Needle for hay baler



H. E. RALSTON NEEDLE FOR HAY BALER Filed De'c.

Oct. 12, 1965 United States Patent 3,211,083 NEEDLE FOR HAY BALER Horace E. Ralston, Memphis, Tenn., assignor to International Harvester Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 328,591 Claims. (Cl. 100-24) This invention is a new and useful improvement of a needle for a hay baler. More particularly, the improvement comprises a retainer for holding slack wire inside the wire slot of a baler needle on its return stroke.

One difiiculty with hay balers using wire as the binding material is that on the return stroke of the baler needle to its home position, the wire bulges out of the wire slot in the needle and becomes entangled in other parts of the baler. As a result, the baler has to be shut down while the tangled wire is removed.

The cause of this trouble is believed to be the slack wire that builds up in the needle slot on the delivery stroke of the needle. When the needle is on its delivery stroke, the slack in the wire is taken up because the drag of pulling wire oil of the coil keeps the wire taut. When the needle makes its return stroke, however, it moves back toward the coil of wire, thereby releasing the tension on the wire and giving the slack free rein. The excess wire then bulges out of the wire slot in the needle and becomes entangled in the baler mechanism (e.g. in the packer fingers or plunger).

The chief object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a hay baler needle having a retainer for controlling the slack in the baling wire on the return stroke of the needle.

The object of this invention is, in other words, to provide a series of spring biased members in the walls of the wire slot of a baler needle, so as to confine slack wire inside the slot on the return stroke of the needle.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hay baler needle having a replaceable wire retainer, so that worn wire retainers may be replaced by new ones.

A baler needle embodying the novel wire retainer is shown in the drawings, where:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a baler needle showing the general location of the wire retainer elements along the needle;

FIGURE 2 is a cross section through the needle taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1, showing how the retainer balls fit in the walls of the needle and are, in turn, held in place by the retainer spring; and

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of one of the novel wire retainer elements.

The novel baler needle disclosed herein comprises, in general, an arcuate body having a U-shaped cross section, a set of rollers 11 and 12 forming an eye 13 for passage of the baling wire, a series of wire retainer elements 14 located along needle body 10, and a split bearing 15 for attaching the needle to the base pipe of a hay baler of the type shown in US. Patent No. 2,897,747. The parts of the needle may be made out of any suitable material.

Needle body 10 is a sheet of material or an angle iron folded into a U-shape (see FIGURE 2). The hollow of the U serves as a wire passageway or slot 17, a wire 18 being shown therein in normal operating position.

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At one end of body 10, the bottom of the U is removed, leaving two tabs to support rollers 11 and 12. The space between the rollers forms the wire eye 13 for feeding wire to the baler. The other end of body 10 has attached to it a bearing bracket 16 carrying the split bearing 15, which mates with a baler base pipe.

The novel wire retainer 14 (see FIGURES 2 and 3) forming the heart of this invention comprises a U-shaped spring clip 19 and a pair of balls 20. The balls 20 fit in a pair of aligned holes 21 in the walls of needle body 10, one ball to a hole. Spring clip 19 fits around the outside of needle body 10 to confine the balls 20 in their respective holes. The biasing action of the spring clip 19 holds the balls 20 in contact with each other in the wire slot 17 but allows the balls to yield sidewise to allow wire to enter the wire slot 17 on the feed stroke of the needle. While three wire retainers 14 are used in the example shown in FIGURE 1, any number of retainers may be used, as need be. Also, when the parts of retainer 14 become worn by rubbing of the wire, the old retainer may be removed and a new one snapped into place.

While only one specific form of the novel wire retainer is shown, it is recognized that the underlying concept of the invention may be expressed in other forms. For example, in lieu of the balls 20, fingers of various forms may be added to the legs of the spring clip 19. Or, the base of the clip 19 could be reversed to fit over the opening of the needle slot 17. Still yet, a fixed member may be substituted for one ball, with only one ball or equivalent member yielding to allow passage of the wire on the feed stroke. It is intended, therefore, that the attached claims cover these and all other similarly obvious modifications as well as the principal form.

The invention claimed is:

1. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a wire passageway in said needle body, said wire passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, means in said passageway for preventing the escape of slack baling wire from said passageway during the return stroke of said needle, said means including at least one yieldable wire retainer element in said passageway at said open portion thereof, said retainer element substantially closing off a section of said passageway open portion.

2. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a wire passageway in said needle body, said wire passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, at least one yieldable wire retainer element in said passageway at said open portion thereof, said retainer element comprising a pair of yieldable members projecting into said passageway from the exterior of said needle body to close off a portion of said passageway opening to prevent the escape of slack baling wire from said passageway.

3. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a wire passageway in said needle body having a wall, said passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, a hole through said wall at said open portion of said passageway, a spring member on the exterior of said body adjacent said hole, a wire retainer in said hole, said spring member biasing said wire retainer into said wire passageway to close off a portion thereof to prevent the escape of slack baling wire from said passageway.

4. A needle for a baler, comprising: a needle body, a

wire passageway in said needle body having a pair of walls, said passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, a hole through each of said walls at said open portion of said passageway, a spring member on the exterior of said body adjacent said holes, a wire retainer in each of said holes, said spring member biasing said wire retainers into said wire passageway to close off a portion thereof to prevent the escape of slack baling wire from said passageway.

5. A needle for a baler, comprising: an elongated, arcuate needle body, a wire passageway in said needle body having a pair of walls, said passageway being open for at least a portion of its length, a hole through each of said walls at said walls at said open portion of said passageway, a ball in each of said holes, a U-shaped spring member on the exterior of said body adjacent said holes, a

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,909,300 5/33 Meyer 289-8 2,897,747 8/59 May 100-4 3,098,278 7/63 Cerniak 24230 X WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS O. MAASSEL, Examiner. 

1. A NEEDLE FOR A BALER, COMPRISING: A NEEDLE BODY, A WIRE PASSAGEWAY IN SAID NEEDLE BODY, SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY BEING OPEN FOR AT LEAST A PORTION OF ITS LENGTH, MEANS IN SAID PASSAGEWAY FOR PREVENTING THE ESCAPE OF SLACK BALING WIRE FROM SAID PASSAGEWAY DURING THE RETURN STROKE OF SAID NEEDLE, SAID MEANS INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE YIELDABLE WIRE RETAINER ELEMENT IN SAID PASSAGEWAY AT SAID OPEN PORTION THEREOF, SAID RETAINER ELEMENT SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSING OFF A SECTION OF SAID PASSAGEWAY OPEN PORTION. 